Civil Engineer Skills Assessment

Australia welcomes qualified Civil Engineers to migrate to Australia as the building and the construction industry producing around 9% of the Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generates over AUD360 billion in revenue. Civil Engineer (ANZSCO code: 233211) is currently on the Medium & Long Term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) with access to the broad range of Australian immigration visa programs.

Civil Engineer occupation is in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) field and it is currently on the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL). This means the Australian Government considers Civil Engineer as one of the critical occupations instrumental to rebuild the Australian economy following the economic damaged caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the processing of the nomination and visa application for Civil Engineer will be given the highest priority. In other words, if you are a Civil Engineer and have an intention to migrate to Australia and develop your career in Australia, delay no more as right now is the perfect time to get your planning started! Civil engineer visa holder will have no difficulty to obtain travel restriction exemption to travel to Australia from an overseas location although the Australian border is still closed to most of the other visa holders.

Australian Visa Options for Qualified Civil Engineers

The following are a range of visas that Civil Engineers may apply to work and/or to obtain permanent residency in Australia:

• 189 Skilled Independent Visa
• 190 Skilled Nominated Visa
• 491 Skilled Regional (Provisional) Visa
• 482 Temporary Skill Shortage – Medium Term Stream
• 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa
• 494 Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Visa
• 407 Training Visa
• 485 Temporary Graduate

For Civil Engineers, the most practical choices in the General Skilled Migration program are subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa and subclass 491 Skilled Regional (provisional) visa. The typical process is:

1. Seeking professional migration advice about your eligibility for Australian visa and associated action plan
2. Obtaining a satisfactory English test result to support your visa application
3. Obtaining a positive Skills Assessment outcome for your nominated occupation
4. Submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI) through SkillSelect
5. Securing a State Nomination through a Registration of Interest (ROI) and a solid application for the state nomination
6. Once state nomination has been approved, submitting your visa application as soon as possible within 60 days

Alternatively, you may also obtain Australian Permanent Residency by first going through the employment visa route by applying for subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme visa or 482 Temporary Skill Shortage visa. However, the process will be different to the general skilled migration program route. Before you can apply for the said visas, the employer must be an approved sponsor before they can nominate you via the nomination application.

For the subclass 482 visa, the employer will also need to undergo the labour market testing (LMT) process before they can nominate an overseas worker. It may sound complicated, but rest assured our experienced team at Migration Consultant will be able to provide you all the assistance and guidance you need along the way.

Civil Engineer PR Points in Australia 2021

For skilled migration, Civil Engineers must meet the minimum points requirement set by the Federal Government in legislative instrument Migration (LIN 19/210: Pool and Pass Marks for General Skilled Migration Visas) Instrument 2019 are as below:

• Subclass 189 (Skilled—Independent) visa : 65 points
• Subclass 190 (Skilled—Nominated) visa : 65 points
• Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional (Provisional)) visa : 65 points

The points include any point allocated through State Nomination and Family Sponsorship. However meeting the minimum points requirement may not be enough to apply for a skilled visa and an successful visa application also depends on the applicant satisfying a range of other criteria such as skills assessment, state nomination, character and medical examinations.

Civil Engineer Skill Assessment (ANZSCO code: 233211) 

In order to apply for a permanent residency visa or provisional skilled visas through general skilled migration program, you are required to obtain a skills assessment as Civil Engineer. For civil engineers, skills assessment can be organised through Engineers Australia (EA).

Civil engineers’ main duty is to design, plan, organise and oversee the construction of civil engineering projects and infrastructure projects. Civil engineering involves Maths, Materials, Mechanics and Physics but it’s also about team work and creative problem-solving to solve unique engineering challenges. Civil engineers play a critical role to tackle complex challenges such as climate change or natural disasters and to contribute to the circular economy.

For the ANZSCO job definition and description, please read ANZSCO 233211 CIVIL ENGINEER.

There are 6 different assessment pathways for Engineers Australia Skills Assessment:

• Accredited Qualifications
  1. Australian Qualification Pathway
  2. Washington Accord Pathway
  3. Sydney Accord Pathway
  4. Dublin Accord Pathway
  5. Other Recognised Qualifications – Applies to the holders of a French Diplômed’Ingénieur completed in or after 1970 and listed in the Journal Officiel de la République in the list of institutions habilitated to deliver the title of Engineer for the year of completion
     
     

• Non-Accredited Qualifications/Engineering Managers
  6. Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) Pathway
     
     

The exact assessment pathway to choose depends on the country in which your engineering qualification is obtained. You may find out more about your qualification by selecting the relevant country in the list of this website: https://www.ieagreements.org/.

If your qualification is either Not Accredited or from a non-Accord listed country, worry not, you might be able to apply for the Skills Assessment under the Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) Pathway, although this pathway involves more work and time to prepare for your assessment application.

Supporting Documents to apply for a skills assessment varies depending on your chosen pathway, however, the following are some of the common documents required by Engineers Australia:

• Passport-Style Photograph
• Prime Identification Document (e.g.: Passport and/or Birth Certificate)
• Name Change Document (if you ever been known by or used any other name(s). Other name(s) include alternative spellings, patronymic name, maiden names, clan or tribal names)
• CV/Résumé
• Evidence of English Language Competency (Engineers Australia accepts General or Academic version of IELTS test results, TOEFL iBT & PTE Academic Test. Australian-qualified engineering graduate or if you hold accredited qualifications from signatory countries where the official language is English is usually exempted. More info: Kindly refer to MSA Booklet.)
• Education Qualifications (including academic transcript and award certificate/completion letter for Australian / International qualifications)
• Evidence of Registration (if registration or licensing is mandatory in the country you are currently practising)

Based on the supporting documents you provided, the EA will assess if your educational qualification and/or work experience are at a recognised level and closely related to Civil Engineer.

Once you have your skills assessment is completed, EA will issue you an Assessment Outcome Letter. If it is a positive outcome, you may then submit your SkillSelect (EOI) and/or commencing the relevant processes to be considered for State Nomination.

Contact Migration Consultant today to discuss your eligibility for the Skills Assessment, as this is one of the most important steps of your immigration journey.